The Greatest Gift of All
by monkaholic
Summary: Daniel finds the perfect gift for Betty.


**Disclaimer:** Ugly Betty doesn't belong to me

**Author's Note:** Written for the danielbetty LJ advent calendar. This story is pretty much canon, except I sent Henry back to Tucson early. Hee. Merry Christmas DB shippers! And I found out that it is an impossibility to write a DB Christmas fic without mistletoe. I tried, I really did. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!

* * *

Daniel took the rectangular box out of his coat pocket and set it on his desk. The morning sun danced across the silver wrapping as he took his coat off and sunk into his chair. It was the perfect gift, Daniel was sure of it. He hadn't even tried, he had just seen it and he _knew_.

"Hey, Daniel?" he heard her say as his door flew open. He looked up with wide eyes and quickly shoved the box into a drawer. Betty gave him a questioning look and said, "What was that?"

"Nothing!" Daniel said, a little too eagerly.

"_Right_," she said, obviously not believing him for a second. To Daniel's relief, she just rolled her eyes and let it go. She held out a fishbowl to him filled with little shreds of paper and said, "Pick one!" When he raised an eyebrow at her, she gave him a full smile, braces and all.

Daniel laughed and said, "Why?"

"Because we're doing a Secret Santa this year. Pick one!"

"But…" Crap.

"But nothing, just pick one, would you? My arm's getting tired."

"I never approved a Secret Santa."

"Yes, but you did put Amanda in charge of the Christmas party, did you not?"

"Well… yeah, but that was to make it easier for _you_."

"And I appreciate that. But now we're stuck with Secret Santa, so pick one."

Daniel sighed. The only person he wanted to give a gift to was standing right in front of him. Daniel shrugged. Maybe he'd get lucky and pull her name out of the bowl. He looked up at Betty with a half smile and dug in. She tilted her head and smiled back as he rummaged through the bowl. Finally his hand emerged from the sea of green paper. He tore his eyes away from Betty's and held his breath as he opened the little piece of paper. _Amanda_. Great.

"Ho ho ho, Old Saint Kenny is here with your paychecks, yo," Kenny said as he strutted into the office wearing a red Santa hat and a white beard.

Betty set the bowl down on Daniel's desk and rolled her eyes. "Hi, Kenny."

"Well hello, you fine thang. Lookin' booty_licious_ in that reindeer sweater."

Betty put her hands on her hips and turned around to face Kenny. "Kenny, that doesn't even make sense! And stop hitting on me, I'm your best friend's girlfriend."

"_Ex_ girlfriend. Anyway, baby, all's fair in love and war," Kenny said, looking Betty up and down. "Besides, he told me to keep an eye on you while he's in Tuckson with that stone cold _fox_ that has his bun in the oven."

"First of all, I am not his _ex_ girlfriend, we're just… taking a break. Secondly, Henry is not 'with' Charlie, he's there to support the birth of his child. And lastly, I'm sure keeping an eye on me does not entail hitting on me."

Kenny shrugged, and said, "Whatevs." He then held some mistletoe above his head and said, "Come here, Ho."

Daniel heard Betty huff and he couldn't keep a laugh from escaping. She turned her head towards him and glared, then rounded on Kenny, yelling something about never wanting to kiss him, even if he was the last man on earth. Kenny slowly backed out of the office and Betty followed, still yelling at him.

Daniel looked at the fishbowl, then looked up to make sure Betty was out of sight. He pulled the bowl towards him and started searching for Betty's name. "Damn it," he said, after about the 20th name.

"What are you doing?" asked an incredulous voice.

Daniel jumped and pushed the bowl away from him. "N—nothing," he replied with an innocent smile.

"Liar," Betty said, taking the bowl from him. "It sounds like you didn't find what you were looking for anyway."

Daniel grimaced.

Betty laughed and said, "Yep, I thought so."

Daniel watched her turn to leave, but he stopped her with, "Hey, Betty?"

"Yeah?" she asked with a smile.

"Ask Amanda what she wants for Christmas, then put it on the company card."

Betty's mouth fell open and she said, "Daniel! That's not how Secret Santa works. You're supposed to find just the right gift and put a smile on someone's face."

"Trust me, she'll have a bigger smile on her face if she gets exactly what she wants."

Betty scoffed and said, "Fine."

………………………………………….

Daniel finally emerged from his office to join the music and drinking. He really wasn't in the mood to party this year. His mother was in jail, his father was dead, and Alexis was… well, Alexis. He never knew what to expect from her. The one thing he had been looking forward to was seeing the smile on Betty's face when she opened her gift, but even that had been taken away from him. Daniel grabbed a glass of champagne and scanned the crowd. There were plenty of models to choose from to keep from being lonely that night, but when he saw Betty standing in the corner near a plant, trying not to be noticed, he couldn't keep himself from going to her. A single minute with Betty was better than a hot night with some model he wouldn't remember in the morning. A year ago he wouldn't have felt that way, but… he'd been finding it harder and harder to be apart from her. She made everything in his life brighter, warmer…happier. No one but her was able to do that.

She smiled reluctantly at him as he made his way to her side. They stood next to each other in silence, watching Christina and some guy in a Santa suit stumble into the bathroom, then he finally said, "So… what are you hiding from?"

Betty grabbed a wax leaf on the plant and started playing with it, avoiding his eyes as she said, "Nothing."

"Mmhmm," he replied skeptically.

She gave him a sideways glance, then looked back down at the leaf as she said, "I miss Henry."

Daniel's heart hurt for her. He looked back at the crowd and noticed all the couples dancing, even Marc looked unusually in love and content with his new boyfriend, who, to Daniel's surprise, wasn't a model. Daniel smiled. He turned to Betty and held out his hand as he asked, "Care for a dance?"

Betty looked at him and smiled, one of those smiles that lit up her eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Betty laughed and grabbed his hand, and they took their spot amongst the happy couples.

Daniel held her close to him and laid their entwined hands on his chest as they began to sway to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." It was weird, how comfortable he felt. He was completely content as he drank in her smile, her laughter tickling his ears, her flowery perfume mixing with her kiwi shampoo to give her that pleasant smell that was distinctly Betty, her body close to his, warming him from head to toe. And her eyes, they were smiling at him. It was just… perfect. He could stay in that moment for the rest of his life. But like all good things, it came to an end.

When the song stopped, Betty pulled away from him, and he became aware of everyone else in the room. Somehow he had forgotten that they all were there. Daniel chuckled to himself and shook his head. He watched Betty walk over to her desk, and he followed. She pulled out a wide, flat, square box and handed it to him with a smile. "Merry Christmas," she said softly.

Daniel looked at it in shock. "You're my Secret Santa?"

"Yep," she said with a huge grin.

Daniel squinted his eyes at her and said, "You never put my name in the bowl, did you?"

"Nope!" she said with an even bigger grin.

Daniel laughed. He stared at Betty for another moment, then he looked down at the box wrapped in paper with little Santa Clauses on it and a red bow. He could see Betty out of the corner of his eye watching him excitedly as he opened the gift. He choked out a laugh when he saw the blank slate. The silver frame around it was engraved with, "Every day is a new beginning." It was perfect. He looked up at Betty and smiled at her, his eyes betraying the absolute wonder he felt at having this woman in his life. "Thank you, Betty."

She smiled as she waved her hand and said, "Ah, don't mention it."

A silence fell over them as he looked into her eyes for a moment. Finally, he said, "I got you something, too."

"What? Daniel, you weren't supposed to."

"But I wanted to."

"But you were supposed to buy something for Amanda."

"I did."

"_No_, I did."

Daniel rolled his eyes and said, "It doesn't really matter. She's happy, isn't she?"

He saw Betty look over at Amanda, then she looked back at him and begrudgingly said, "Yeah."

"So… come on." He grabbed Betty's hand and led her to his office. "Stay there," he said as he let go of her hand and went around his desk to open the drawer. He pulled the silver box out with an excited smile and walked back over to Betty, placing the box in her hand. "Open it," he said.

Betty gave him a sloppy smile then ripped away the silver paper. She found a black velvet case with a silver lining, and when she opened it she gasped. She pulled out the silver pen and read inscription, "Keep the dream alive – DM." She looked back up at Daniel with tears in her eyes and his favorite smile of all. The smile that let him know she was proud to be his friend. It was the greatest gift he could ever ask for. "Thank you, Daniel," she said as she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. This was another moment that he could live in for the rest of his life.

She pulled away and wiped at her eyes, then said, "Well, I better get going. Justin volunteered to bring homemade gingerbread man cookies to his class tomorrow, and he'll be devastated if they're all burnt, which they will be if Hilda ends up cooking them."

Daniel laughed and said, "Okay."

He walked with her to the door, then she turned around and said, "You're coming to my house for Christmas, right?"

Daniel smiled and said, "Definitely. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Betty gave him another one of those huge smiles of hers, then she surprised him by standing on tiptoes and kissing his cheek.

Daniel raised his hand to his cheek and said, "What was that for?"

She pointed to the doorframe above them and he saw the mistletoe.

He laughed and looked back down at Betty. He grabbed her by the waist and said, "Come here, Ho," and planted a quick kiss on her lips.

She laughed as she pushed him away and said, "See you on Christmas."

Daniel nodded and said, "See you on Christmas." He could still feel the faint tickle of her lips on his as he watched her go. It was going to be a good Christmas.


End file.
